The 82nd Academy Awards are approaching

Next Sunday night will see the 82nd Academy Awards take place. A lot can be said of the Oscars, but the discussions before and after are almost half the fun. The first Academy Awards show was held in May of 1929, where "Wings" won the award for best picture. Here's a short look at some of the nominees for Sunday's big show.


Actor in a Leading Role:

Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker


Actor in a Supporting Role:

Matt Damon in Invictus
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds


Actress in a Leading Role:

Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Carey Mulligan in An Education
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia


Actress in a Supporting Role:

Penélope Cruz in Nine
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire


Cinematography:

Avatar - Mauro Fiore
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Bruno Delbonnel
The Hurt Locker - Barry Ackroyd
Inglourious Basterds - Robert Richardson
The White Ribbon - Christian Berger


Directing:

Avatar -James Cameron
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire - Lee Daniels
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman


Best Picture:

Avatar - James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
The Blind Side - Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
District 9 - Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
An Education - Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
Inglourious Basterds - Lawrence Bender, Producer
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire - Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
A Serious Man - Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
Up - Jonas Rivera, Producer
Up in the Air - Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers


Writing (Original Screenplay):

The Hurt Locker - by Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - by Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger - by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
A Serious Man - by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Up - by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy


Well, there's some of them. I don't wanna come with too many predictions, although I do feel Christoph Waltz definitely deserves an award for his Supporting Role in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. I haven't seen all the movies involved here, though, so it's hard to come with too many predictions. But how can anyone outplay Christoph as Hans Landa in the Tarantino movie, which I also hope will land a couple of other awards in itself, namely for cinematography and directing.

Stay safe, and keep checking back here.